Putin, Trump discuss oil prices, coronavirus over phone

Russian, US presidents talk about measures taken by two countries to stem spread of COVID-19

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump on Friday the situation at globals oil markets, and the coronavirus outbreak over phone.

"An exchange of views was held on the situation at the global oil market, including the agreement being worked out within the framework of OPEC+ on reducing production in order to stabilize world oil prices," the Kremlin press service said in a statement.

"Donald Trump informed [Vladimir Putin] about his contacts with the leaders of a number of oil-producing countries."

Both the leaders agreed to continue Russian-U.S. consultations on the matter, the statement added.

Oil producers in the OPEC+ group agreed earlier in the day to curb their total oil output by 10 million barrels per day (bpd) from May 1 until June 30 -- much less than the market expectation of 15-20 million bpd.

It is a group of 24 oil-producing nations, made up of the 14 OPEC members, and 10 other non-OPEC members including Russia.

OPEC was formed in 1960 to reduce competition between member nations and to control prices.

Meanwhile, the two counterparts also talked about efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 97,000 people in 185 countries.

Overall, 1.62 million people have been infected.

While the U.S. has the highest number of cases in the world -- more than 467,000 -- Russia is far behind with nearly 12,000 people testing positive, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.